Good Morning Britain viewers slam host Ranvir over ‘rude’ interview
GOOD Morning Britain viewers slammed hosts Ranvir Singh and Ed Balls today for ‘constantly talking over’ a guest in an emotional interview.
Brit David Hunter, 76, gave the programme a first interview since being freed from jail in Cyprus last week after killing his terminally ill wife Janice, 74.
He was sentenced by judges to two years’ jail time for manslaughter but was released having already spent 19 months in custody.
David smothered his wife of 56 years, who was suffering from a rare blood cancer, after she begged him for weeks to end her pain.
The former miner feared he might receive a life sentence but was reduced to tears after learning he’d be reunited with his family.
Today, GMB viewers were unimpressed with the show’s interview as David appeared via videolink from his home in Cyprus.
One wrote on Twitter: “Why does Ranvir NEVER let the guests speak? She is the rudest person ever! All she does is shout over the top of people, I always switch off when she presents. How she ever got a job on TV is beyond me!”
Another posted: “This interview could have been a real insight, shame Ranvir kept interrupting When you ask a question, let them answer, otherwise whats the point.
A third said: “Listening to the awful story of David Hunter but can Ranvir and Ed please let him speak,all through the interview they kept interrupting him.
Another ranted: “Absolute car crash of an interview. All Ed and Ranvir have done is interrupt the man trying to catch him out. He helped his f***ing wife to relieve her of the pain she was in what else do you want him say.”
Speaking on the show, David said: “When you take someone’s life, especially your wife’s, who you love so much – it hurts, it really hurts.
“I had quite a few nightmares, I don’t want anyone to go through what I went through.
“I would like to see the Cypriot government and the British government come together and try and work something out because I’m sure I’m not the only one that’s gone through this.”
Describing Janice’s declining health, David shared: “She was suffering with diarrhoea a lot and she had quite a few nose bleeds. We went to the hospital to see what we could do about it and it took about three or four visits and the doctors said, ‘I’m sorry we can’t do anything’.
“She gradually got worse and she was uncomfortable that she had to wear diapers and she refused to go out. She stayed in, she didn’t wanna meet anybody and she was getting so bad, she didn’t want the family or friends or anybody on Facebook to see the way she was.”
Janice’s sister died from the same disease years earlier, prompting her to tell husband David: “‘I don’t ever wanna go through what my sister did, so I want you to help me’. But 30 years later you don’t think you’re actually going to do it.
“We got to a point where she said, ‘I can’t enjoy myself’.”
David’s legal team had argued he should be given a suspended sentence, in a case which is a legal first in the country.
In mitigation, his defence lawyer, Ritsa Pekri, said his motive was to “liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions”.
But Michael Polak, of Justice Abroad, which represented David, said they were “very pleased” with the sentence.
He added: “This has been a tragic case and difficult for all of those involved with it, but today’s decision was the right one and allows David and his family to grieve together.”
As David was sentenced, judge Michalis Droussiotis insisted an immediate jail term rather than suspended was “unavoidable”.
He said there may never have been a case like this in Cyprus and the message for any future similar cases had to be that “taking away human life, even with the intention of relieving suffering, is a crime“.
Judge Droussiotis added: “This is a crime that goes against human life, which is the highest virtue. Taking it is a crime.
“We are not facing a typical case. This is not a case acting out of animosity or differences between two people that led to someone taking another’s life.
“Before us is a unique case of taking human life on the basis of feelings of love, with the aim of relieving the person of their suffering that came due to their illness.”
In May, David broke down in tears as he relived the moments before Janice died in his arms at their home.
He told the trial that he would “never in a million years” have taken Janice’s life unless she had asked him to.
He added: “She wasn’t just my wife, she was my best friend.”
Before he finished giving evidence, he asked to address the judge, who he told: “My wife was suffering and she actually said: ‘I don’t want to live any more,’ and I still said no.
“Then she started to become hysterical. I was hoping she would change her mind. I loved her so much. I did not plan it, I swear to God.”
After giving evidence David told reporters his time in a Cypriot prison was “nothing” compared to the last six months of Janice’s life.
He told the court he tried to kill himself after his wife’s death.
At trial, the prosecution said he “had decided to kill her and there was no common consent”.
During closing speeches in June, his defence team said it was not a case of premeditated murder and Hunter “acted spontaneously” to end his wife’s life “upon her begging him to do so”.